Effects of Fees Guidelines on the Management of Public Secondary Schools in Nairobi Province, Kenya
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of Government fees
guidelines on the management of schools in Nairobi Province, Kenya.
There has been a major concern amongst stakeholders about the amount of fees
charged in secondary schools. The fees is perceived to be beyond the reach of
many households and is thought to be a major contributory factor to school
dropout rate.
The policy of cost-sharing in education adopted in Kenya in 1988 shifted a
major burden of financing education to households leaving the government with
the supply of teachers. Different schools developed budgetary plans peculiar to
their needs resulting in varying fees structures. There was need to streamline
fees charged in schools.
. The government therefore, came up with fees guidelines for different categories
of schools; the guidelines were meant.to restrain situations of exorbitant fees in
schools and bring about uniformity. The government insisted that schools had
to levy uniform fees irrespective of their peculiarities. There was little success
in restricting school budgets to government fees guidelines with school
managements maintaining that schools could only attain observed levels of
performance by levying fees higher than the guidelines.
The researcher therefore investigated the relationship between fees and known
factors of Quality School Management. A Questionnaire was developed by the
researcher and circulated to 47 principals of public secondary schools in Nairobi
Province achieving a return rate of 89.4 %. Data collected from the
Questionnaire was computer analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social
Sciences (SPSS). Pearson's Chi-Square Tests were done on the data after Crosstabulating
of fees levied against:
~ Performance at KCSE.
~ Schools levels of participation in co-curricular activities.
~ Schools level of provision of physical facilities.
~ Student-textbook ratios.
~ Student enrolment in schools.
~ Breadth of curriculum offered in schools.
Some of the null hypotheses were rejected and others were not with varying
degrees of correlation between fees and the listed variables. The findings were
that there is a positive correlation between: fees charged and performance at
KCSE; fees and level of school participation in co-curricular activities and
finally between fees and breadth of curriculum offered in schools. Secondly, the
other findings were that there was no significant correlation between fees
charged and student enrolment, fees and level of provision of physical facilities
and between fees and student-textbook ratio. Thirdly, a majority of the
respondents were of the view that fees levied should be determined at school
level with the involvement of Boards of Governors, Parents Teachers
Associations and the Ministry of Education.
From the study it is therefore recommended that individual schools be allowed
to develop their own fees structure. This will address the needs of each school
while at the same time holding school managements accountable for the
performance of their schools. Secondly, decisions on the amount of fees levied
be determined at school level with the Ministry of Education's involvement for
guided decision making.
Citation
M.ED (Educational Administration and Planning) Thesis 2005Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
College of Education and External Studies, University of Nairobi,
Description
Master of Education Thesis
Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]